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A MOTION urging the United States Congress to enact the Community Forestry and Agriculture Conservation Act of 2001.
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WHEREAS, communities across the United States are losing forest lands to development, and
WHEREAS, citizens are demanding the conservation of green spaces, the control of sprawl and the protection of natural resources, fish and wildlife, and
WHEREAS, there is a need for a creative approach to protect forest land from development, and at the same time, preserve the local economy, support the tax base and address concerns of private land owners and conservationists, and
WHEREAS, a bill, entitled the Community Forestry and Agriculture Conservation Act of 2001, was introduced on May 3, 2001, in the United States Senate by Senator Patty Murray as S.822 and in the United States House of Representatives by Representative Jennifer Dunn as H.R. 1711, and
WHEREAS, the Community Forestry and Agriculture Conservation Act of 2001 is an innovative tool that would protect forest lands from development and allow sustainable timber harvesting to continue on the land, and
WHEREAS, the Community Forestry and Agriculture Conservation Act of 2001 amends the Internal Revenue Code to make it easier for communities to issue tax-exempt revenue bonds on behalf of private nonprofit corporations to purchase tracts of forest land, and
WHEREAS, the bill has received bipartisan support from twenty-three co-sponsors in the United States House of Representatives and seven cosponsors in the United States Senate and is supported by numerous private businesses, forest industry companies and conservation and environmental organizations, and
WHEREAS, enactment of the Community Forestry and Agriculture Conservation Act of 2001 would facilitate the acquisition of a one-hundred four thousand acre forest in rural King County, Washington, through the sale of revenue bonds to be repaid through continuing forestry on the land, and
WHEREAS, the Evergreen Forest Trust, a nonprofit forest conservation company, has entered into a tentative agreement with the Weyerhaeuser Company to purchase the forest land, known as the Snoqualmie Tree Farm, contingent upon congressional amendment of the tax code, and
WHEREAS, enactment of the Community Forestry and Agriculture Conservation Act of 2001 by the United States Congress would allow the creation of an innovative conservation model in King County that can be used by communities across the nation;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT MOVED by the Council of King County:
The King County council respectfully urges the United States Congress to enact the
Community Forestry and Agriculture Conservation Act of 2001 which amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow the sale of tax-exempt revenue bonds to acquire renewable resource lands for conservation purposes.